ATTLEBORO — U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III announced during a press conference held at Attleboro High School that he would introduce a bill in Washington to reauthorize and update the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which provides federal funding for vocational education. The act was last reauthorized in 2006.

Kennedy highlighted a few of the projects he encountered during visits to vocational schools throughout his district, including a precise scale model of an M1 Abrams tank students at Fall River’s Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School he saw in February.

Kennedy was joined by Attleboro High School students and local school and city officials for the announcement.

“All of the experiences tell me the importance of career and technical education,” Kennedy said. “The fact of the matter is, here in Massachusetts so many of our schools are already doing the work. The challenge we face is trying to make sure the rest of the country follows your lead,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the Perkins Modernization Act of 2014, if passed, would strengthen and support career/technical education programs by using local workforce data to ensure that those programs are aligned to the needs of employers in local labor markets.

“What it really does is ask schools and their school districts to use local labor markets and labor market data, as they try to build out skills,” Kennedy said. “What skills do our businesses require? Who’s hiring? Who’s growing? What are the skills our students are going to need today, and years down into the future?

“This is not a red state issue, this is not a blue state issue. When it comes to educating our next generation workforce, that’s something we can all agree on.”

The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, originally passed in 1984, provides federal funding for career and technical education, or CTE.

Kennedy’s update revises the act’s language, to ensure that local CTE programs “take into account the trends and projections identified by labor market data,” according to a press release, which added, “When CTE is informed by labor market data and aligned with the evolving needs of our economy, students graduate ready for competitive employment and lifetime opportunity in the economy’s in-demand industry sectors and occupations.”

Kennedy said he would like to see what he views as successful CTE programs across the Bay State replicated in other parts of the country.

Kennedy said companies both large and small provide similar feedback: They have unfilled jobs that need a skilled work force. He said in Massachusetts he saw schools “leading the way,” by aligning their curriculum with the needs of local employers, small businesses and emerging industries.

“Wherever there are pockets of opportunity in our regional economy, we need to make sure that those opportunities are being funneled with the best talent we can have. Here, educational training programs represent one of the best opportunities we have,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy invited students to speak alongside the adults.

“We need to create more opportunities for students to have job skills,” said Danell Simpson, an Attleboro High School senior at the school who took culinary arts classes at the school and is now working in a cooperative program during the school day at nearby Bertucci’s Italian Restaurant.

Senior Brian Lucier showed off a senior project he made using the school’s 3D printer. It loosely resembles a clamp, and is designed to help snowboard enthusiasts more easily board off a ski lift.

“We want to be able to be smart about how we’re educating our students,” Kennedy said. “Let’s make sure the connections are there.”

Local officials in other communities weighed in, including Taunton Mayor Tom Hoye, who said in a statement that “Career and technical education has long been a critical tool in connecting students in the Greater Taunton area with job opportunities in our modern economy.”

“The Perkins Modernization Act will build on the success we have seen to date and ensure our system is preparing kids to be successful after graduation,” Hoye said.

His remarks were echoed by business leaders and school officials.

“Our students, teachers, and administrators rely on the career technical education provided through the Perkins grant program,” said Taunton Public Schools Superintendent Julie Hackett. “By distributing these grants based on industry and business demand, the Perkins Modernization Act will reinforce the pathway from the classroom to jobs in the Taunton area.”

“Our chamber strives to foster a strong community for Taunton area businesses and to be a voice for their interests,” said Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kerrie Babin.

Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan said as his city “continues on a path towards economic recovery, it is essential that our students receive training that will translate to jobs in our city and region,”adding, the bill would “ensure that students in Fall River have the skills necessary to obtain jobs in emerging industries along the SouthCoast.”

Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Robert Mellion said the Perkins Act is “an important resource in helping connect the education system to the needs of industry and manufacturing.

“If employers are to maintain their economic competitiveness, it will be through programs like the revised Perkins Act that help develop workforce skills,” Mellion said.

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